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First Omega spanks them in Court for selling gray market and now outright misbranded jewelry?

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/tiffany- ... d=18511474

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SHARKMAN

I read about this about an hour ago. When I was looking for engagement rings several years back, I found many labeled as "Tiffany style" rings. I never looked at Costco, though, so I'm not sure if it's just a vernacular misunderstanding or if Costco was legitimately deceiving customers.

I actually ended up getting my wife's ring from Tiffany. I find it hard to believe anyone could mistake a real for a fake. All Tiffany engagement rings have "Tiffany & Co." engraved inside, as well as a unique serial number . . . not to mention the signature blue box they come in. I have to assume the Costco rings didn't have either of these features. I'm curious to know if the rings did come with Tiffany packaging, as this would be a blatant infringement. However, if Costco was just referring to them as "Tiffany style," the lawsuit may not hold up.

Either way, Costco definitely doesn't have the best track record with selling luxury items.

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Chronomat 01- Sierra Silver/Steel
Navitimer 01- Limited Edition #1337/2000

I doubt it was a real or fake issue because there's no way Costco would go that far or be that stupid. So that leaves a grey market type situation, or like you said using the name without permission. It's sort of funny thing because obviously Tiffany is what it is based on quality and history, so even if the rings look the exact same it makes no sense to call them Tiffany style. Of course it's just a Costco sales pitch, and can see why Tiffany would have a huge problem with it, but it has nothing to do with rings looking alike. I see this as being very different than the Omega situation, and look at that as more a failure on Omega as a company not being able to control their dealers.

You took the words right out of my mouth. It sounds like Costco may have been straddling the line, but I doubt that they were outright selling the rings as authentic Tiffany.

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-RJ

I personally own a jewelry store and the heads the diamond sits in are called tiffany style heads, so your right about a lawsuit possibly not holding up if they were referring to the rings as tiffany style, because that's a common jewelry term. Who knows what they were trying to do, we will find out soon enough

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Oh I think the lawsuit will hold up if the article is accurate -

"The lawsuit filed on Thursday provided alleged examples of products Costco touted as "Tiffany." These included an engagement ring alongside signage that read "Platinum Tiffany 0/72 VS2, 1 Round Diamond Ring" that was on sale for $3,199.99.

Another product was labeled "Platinum Tiffany VS2.1 1.00CT Round Brilliant Solitaire Ring," on sale for $6,399.99, according to the complaint."

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SHARKMAN

I suspect that Costco does absolutely nothing more than copy and paste from what the grey market dealer provides them in terms of description. Clearly that doesn't remove their responsibility to accurately describe the goods, but I do wonder whether the grey market supplier pulled a fast one on Costco?

today at the local Costco they had a black face steel fish for $6299.

$6200! Does it do the laundry too?

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SHARKMAN

But is it typical within the industry for a certain styled ring or setting to be referred to as "Tiffany"? From what I gather, it is, and if thats the case I think Costco will be okay.

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-RJ

I don't know, I thought Omega didn't have a chance either but the Federal courts beat up Costco pretty bad there. It would be one thing if it said "Tiffany-style" or "Tiffany Setting." I'd wager most folks who paid a few grand for a ring thought they were getting an actual Tiffany piece. The lawsuit alleges at least some sales staff verbally represented the rings as "Tiffany." I think they will get spanked. It troubles me as a consumer that a large retail outlet could be that loose with the description. To me it is a huge difference just leaving out the word "Style." It's deceptive.

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SHARKMAN

Bit of a crazy idea but could it be that these are actually authentic Tiffany rings but in the absence of authenticity certificates, Costco are not able to prove that the rings are authentic.
Tiffany know that so they claim that Costco are selling counterfeit jewelry just to teach them not to sell products they are not authorized to sell.
Even if Tiffany don't win in the end, Costco's reputation will remain tarnished in the consumers eyes.

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"It is just a matter of time!"

wessa, congrats on 1,000 posts!

It's possible that Tiffany intentionally screwed with Costco, but I doubt it. That would be a nice twist, though.

Other than intentional deceit on Tiffany's part, is it even possible for Costco to get a hold of authentic Tiffany rings? My understanding is that Tiffany only distributes its merchandise through its own network of stores. I don't believe there are any Tiffany ADs other than a company-owned Tiffany store. Obviously, a Tiffany store would not be able to offload rings to Costco without someone at corporate seeing it.

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Chronomat 01- Sierra Silver/Steel
Navitimer 01- Limited Edition #1337/2000

I don't work in this area, but I have to agree. As I recall, the underlying idea is whether it would tend to confuse a consumer, and it certainly sounds like confusion here.

Thanks. Wow, have not even realized it.
It goes quick when you are having fun
How did I manage to come up with 990 useless posts???

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